Kamo Shizumi agonized over the four options repeatedly for quite some time, but ultimately decided to put off making a decision for the moment.
There was no need to rush.
After all, he had no idea how difficult it would be to obtain these points.
What if these damn points were as difficult to acquire as in Souls games?
Would that not mess up his “initial stat” allocation?
The world of jujutsu did not offer a way to restart either…
So it was better to be cautious.
Moreover, compared to that, what Kamo Shizumi was most interested in right now was the various rules, abilities, and mechanics surrounding jujutsu sorcerers.
Aside from the four basic options listed above, there were even more supplementary factors capable of affecting a sorcerer’s strength.
For example, “Domain Expansion, Maximum Technique, Cursed Technique Reversal, Reverse Cursed Technique, Black Flash, and so on…”
Why is this so complicated?!
Although that was how it seemed, after making a rough summary, Kamo Shizumi quickly understood.
These things should all be integrated directly into the “Derived Abilities” branch…
After all, strictly speaking, they were all techniques or some form of advanced skill.
They were special abilities that could only be activated after certain conditions had been met.
—Of course, just as mentioned earlier, the world of jujutsu itself did not exactly value hard work.
No matter how hard you worked, you could not compete with talent…
There were always certain things that people were born with, things that others could spend their entire lives pursuing without ever obtaining.
So, theoretically speaking…
‘Is it possible that even if I max out all four branches, I still might not have any chance of comprehending a Derived Ability?’
The moment this thought surfaced, Kamo Shizumi laughed bitterly at his own pessimism.
It is merely a matter of cursed energy fundamentals.
If I really raise all four attributes to 100, how could I possibly fail to grasp them?
At worst, I can ask my long-lost biological brother for advice!
So it was still more practical to start accumulating strength little by little.
Thinking this way, Kamo Shizumi straightened his body and looked around.
He was sitting in a corner near the window on the right side.
The nearest person to him was more than four meters away and was currently wearing earphones while carrying a briefcase.
Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be a middle-aged office worker in his forties who traveled between different regions for work.
As long as Kamo Shizumi did not make too much noise, there was a very high chance that he would not attract the man’s attention.
Feeling slightly relieved, Kamo Shizumi remained seated, raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and gently waved it in front of himself.
Cursed energy silently surged within his body and began to circulate.
In theory, using cursed energy itself required a process.
Whether it was using a cursed technique or covering the surface of one’s body with cursed energy to form something similar to cursed energy reinforcement, a certain amount of “buffer time” was required before the action could be completed.
However, for those with extensive combat experience or extraordinary talent, like the people in the original story, these things were merely insignificant details.
Kamo Shizumi roughly went through the events of the story in his mind…
It seemed that only the most handsome second male lead had been caught by Kamo Noritoshi during the Kyoto Goodwill Event.
Under Flowing Red Scale, Kamo Noritoshi caught him during his startup motion, and before he could even activate cursed energy reinforcement, he was beaten up badly.
Ahem.
That was beside the point.
For Kamo Shizumi right now, there were two main areas he needed to explore.
The first was developing and researching his own innate technique.
The second was mastering cursed energy reinforcement and learning to control it with greater precision.
The former could expand his combat methods and provide him with various offensive and defensive options.
The latter was much simpler: it would simply increase the power of his punches…
After all, who would not want to step onto the battlefield and have a satisfying elbow-to-elbow brawl with someone they admired?
Even wildly swinging one’s fists was perfectly fine.
After all, the Ching Chong Ping Pong fist was all about overwhelming power.
It had absolutely no technique involved.
But back to the point.
Kamo Shizumi still did not have a deep understanding of his innate technique, so some appropriate experimentation and exploration were absolutely necessary.
Blood Manipulation (Modified).
The moment his thoughts settled, Kamo Shizumi suddenly felt an extremely distinct sensation.
His entire body began to tremble involuntarily.
In terms of the sensation, it was almost like being chilled by an air conditioner in the middle of the night, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
Then…
Thin red threads slowly emerged from his fingertips.
About one centimeter away from his index finger, they gathered into a bright-red blood sphere that continuously wriggled, barely the size of a pinky fingernail.
Its color was vivid, making it obvious that the blood was extremely fresh.
However, Kamo Shizumi’s attention was not focused on it.
He merely stared at his fingertip, which had become pale and was beginning to look drained of color, wearing a thoughtful expression.
‘It actually extracts the blood directly through the gaps in my skin?’
To be honest, Kamo Shizumi had not seen much of the actual process of blood extraction and manifestation in the original story.
After all, Kamo Noritoshi was basically the only “normal” user of Blood Manipulation.
Under ordinary circumstances, he dealt with the problem by temporarily piercing his skin or preparing blood bags beforehand.
“…”
So, does that mean I can use that as a reference?
Kamo Shizumi brought his thumb to his mouth and clamped down hard with his upper and lower front teeth.
The pad of his finger was forcibly punctured, and blood gushed out.
However, it was immediately controlled by cursed energy and extracted, forming a bright blood sphere that continuously circulated beside Kamo Shizumi’s head.
As expected…
‘If I create an opening in my body, the blood extraction process becomes faster as well.’
It consumed less cursed energy, while the resulting quantity was greater.
The efficiency was roughly three times that of extracting blood directly through the skin.
Then…
How about its power?
After making a rough visual estimate, he looked toward the window beside the passenger seat.
The night bus was traveling at a fixed speed of around eighty kilometers per hour.
In order to stay awake, the driver had opened the window for ventilation…
That opening was practically a “sniper’s nest.”
After briefly taking aim, Kamo Shizumi’s thoughts shifted.
The small blood sphere shot forward, transforming into a blood arrow that tore through the air.
In an instant, it passed through the gap and pierced into the tree trunk beside the road.
Kamo Shizumi watched as the tree trunk developed a clearly visible dent.
He could not help making an impressed sound.
“Oh.”
The power is pretty decent.
‘For a Grade 3 sorcerer’s cursed technique, does this mean it can roughly match the level of basic firearms?’
Thinking of this, he naturally remembered Mai Zenin.
This Construction Technique user was probably a fairly typical combatant in terms of firepower.
She usually carried a sub-machine gun…
Kamo Shizumi shifted his gaze toward the other blood sphere.
After a brief moment of thought, he introduced a slight variable into this round of experimentation.
He raised his right hand.
He shaped it into something resembling a “pistol.”
Having read the original story, Kamo Shizumi wanted to try something interesting.
For example, adding hand gestures while using his cursed technique.
That would essentially amount to establishing a simple “binding vow.”
Trading complexity for greater power.
But would this actually work?